


Ripples

by Florville



Series: Serpentine [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: F/M, Multiple Orgasms, Oral Sex, Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:15:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28307358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florville/pseuds/Florville
Summary: The sequel to Serpentine, in which Guzma and Burnet finally have sex (I legit didn't post Serpentine until this was finished because I would've felt bad leaving the readers hanging hahaha).  I have started a third and fourth part to this series, but I'm not sure when/if they'll be finished.
Relationships: Burnet-hakase | Professor Burnet/Guzma
Series: Serpentine [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073282
Kudos: 2





	Ripples

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven’t played Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, I suppose I should give a spoiler warning… This fic is set after the showdown in Malie Garden on Ula’Ula Island…it’s also the sequel to Serpentine, and makes a lot of references to stuff in that fic, so if you want context then go give that a read ^_^ And once again…Merry Christmas, to all you lovely readers.

As Guzma walked towards the gate of Malie Garden, flanked by the two Grunts who’d been giving Kukui a hard time, he slipped his Poké Balls back into his pocket and smiled.

“Yo, what was _up_ with that Trainer, man?” one of his minions lamented.

“Seriously, yo!” the other commiserated, reaching up to tug at his Skull beanie with both hands. “ _Nobody_ should be able to beat Master Guzma! He’s the strongest Trainer around!”

Smirking, Guzma feigned indifference, lazily spreading his hands. “What can I say, boys? I was so distracted by thinking about messing with that stupid Pokémon League Kukui was talking about, I couldn’t focus on the match.”

“I knew it!” one of the Grunts crowed as they passed through the gate. “No _way_ that kid woulda won if Master Guzma was bein’ serious, yo!”

“Kid wasn’t worth my time anyway,” Guzma sneered. “Only thing that made coming here worthwhile is the malasadas we’re gonna take back to Po Town with us.”

“Yo, malasada runnnnn!!!” one Grunt cheered.

“Master Guzma is the best, yo!!” cheered the other.

“Hey, Guzma!” someone shouted from behind them.

Quick on the draw, the Grunt on his left whirled around with a characteristic “yo, that’s _Mister_ Guzma to you!”

Peering over his shoulder to see who’d called out to him, the gang leader scowled faintly, eyes searching the entrance to the Garden.

“Hey, yo—” the other Grunt beside him reached out and shoved his buddy’s shoulder lightly. “Don’t give her trouble! She’s Master Guzma’s friend.”

“Yoooo, you’re right, dawg! That chick with the shiny Charizard!”

Turning around fully to follow his minions’ gaze, Guzma spotted Burnet leaning back against the wall near the gate, clad in a white dress and sandals, a pale violet shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

“Heh…well, I’ll be dipped in shit,” Guzma chuckled, rolling his shoulders and flashing his trademark grin. “Looks like she came out to see me battle.”

“Yooo,” the first grunt breathed in wonder. “That’s our boy Guzma!”

“Yeah, total ladies’ man!” the other crowed.

Snorting in amusement, Guzma threw his arms up and folded them behind his head as he walked back towards the entrance to the Garden, calling back over one shoulder. “Tell Plumeria not to wait up, boys!”

“You got it, Boss!”

“Go get ‘er, Master Guzma!!”

The gang leader snickered, letting his hands fall back to his sides as he closed the distance between himself and the pale-haired Professor, putting one hand on his hip as he stopped in front of her. In truth, he was really happy to see Burnet, because all the shit that she’d done to sabotage Aether’s plans lately had—at least temporarily—freed him from Lusamine’s talons. But with his Grunts watching, it was best to play it cool for now.

“Bright Eyes,” he purred by way of greeting.

“Guzma,” she purred back, clearly unfazed by the fact that he’d been showing off for his underlings.

He tilted his chin up slightly, still grinning. “You’re a long way from Akala tonight.”

Pushing away from the wall, she stepped into his personal space, her pale yellow-green eyes glimmering in the light cast off by the street lamps. “And you look like a man whose Pokémon could use some healing.”

His brows rose in surprise when she stepped up close to him, but he held his ground, and even managed to keep the smug grin on his face. “Heh…you saw that, huh?”

“Mmhmm,” she purred. “Pretty shrewd of that kid to use a Skarmory.”

Guzma grunted. “Yeah…hate to say it, but Kukui picked good with that one. Kid’s already pretty strong.”

Burnet’s alluring smile faded, concern flickering in the depths of her eyes. “Strong enough to keep Lillie safe?”

The gang leader’s smirk also faded, and he let out a slow breath, shrugging one shoulder. “We don’t have her yet, if that’s what you’re asking.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.”

Slipping his hands back into his pockets, Guzma scowled, his slate grey eyes darkening. “So, you came here to talk business, then?”

Tilting her head slightly, Burnet studied the gang leader’s features for a moment before smiling, her calm voice shifting into a more seductive register. “Was there something _else_ you wanted to talk about, Guzma?” she purred, lashes lowering sultrily.

Caught off guard by the shift in her demeanour, Guzma tensed, making an awkward noise in his throat. 

Delighted by his reaction, Burnet burst out laughing, shoving playfully at his chest. “Wow, I did _not_ expect to get you that easily,” she teased, her pale serpentine eyes shining with amusement.

Relaxing, Guzma huffed softly, then snickered. “I told you, Bright Eyes, you better watch it with me.”

Again, she smiled seductively, reaching out to poke at his gold skull medallion. “Gonna clip these claws of mine, are you?”

He leaned into her touch, a feral gleam in his eyes. “You know it.”

“Hmph,” she grunted, still smiling. Turning her hand over, she nodded towards his left pocket. “Give me your team.”

“Huh?”

“Your team. I’m guessing you can’t just walk into the Pokémon Center, what with you being such a notorious gang leader and all,” she explained.

Guzma straightened, frowning at her. “What, you think I don’t carry Max Revives on me?”

Burnet smiled, keeping her hand extended. “Of course you do,” she soothed, that seductive note still dancing at the edges of her voice. “But Max Revives aren’t cheap, and you’ve got two dozen homeless little punks to feed, remember?”

Blinking when she used his own words against him, Guzma grunted softly, then smirked, lowering his gaze as he shook his head. “Tch…” Defeated, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the two Poké Balls, dropping them into Burnet’s open hand. “Guess I can’t argue that one, can I?” he chuckled, eyes gleaming appreciatively when they met Burnet’s again.

Part of her hadn’t expected him to relent, and the fact that he’d done so was deeply gratifying. After not seeing Guzma for almost a month, she’d been expecting the usual sparks to fly between them, but it was almost as though the things that had happened in the interim had somehow made the chemistry between them a lot more potent.

“Think you can stay out of trouble until I get back?” she teased.

Leaning back against the wall, Guzma lifted a foot and pressed it flat against the pale surface. Crossing his arms over his chest in a way that drew attention to the deep violet skull tattoos on his forearms, he leered at her. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“On what you’re gonna give me as a reward for behaving myself.”

She snorted, shaking her head as she turned and walked towards the Pokémon Center. “I don’t negotiate with gangsters!” she called back over her shoulder.

He snickered, his grey eyes gleaming appreciatively as he watched her walk away. Thankfully, his Grunts were out of sight, because if they’d seen him hand over his Poké Balls to anybody, there would’ve been questions. Drawing a deep breath, Guzma let it out in a relaxed sigh. Tilting his head back to look up at the full moon, he wondered absently what had brought the pale-haired Professor to Malie Garden tonight.

It wasn’t long before she returned to his side, holding the Poké Balls out to him. “All better.”

Pushing away from the wall, Guzma took them, slipping them into his pocket once again. “Thanks,” he grunted, feeling an odd little flutter in his chest when she offered him a warm, genuine smile in response.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, serpentine eyes shining as she gazed at him. “And now that that’s taken care of…shall we go for a walk?”

The gang leader’s brows rose slightly, a hint of suspicion flickering in his eyes. “A walk?” he echoed, not quite sure what her angle was.

Laughing at his reaction to the simple request, Burnet shook her head and reached out, gently slipping her hand into the gap between Guzma’s left elbow and the side of his body, moving to stand beside him as though she expected him to lead her by the arm. “Yeah, a walk. It’s a beautiful night, and with my workload, I don’t get to see Malie Garden very often.” She nodded her head towards the pathway that led through the open gate. “I’d like to go for a walk with you before I head home.”

The sensation of her palm pressing against the inside of his elbow made Guzma’s body respond unexpectedly, as though he were a pent-up teenage kid and she was the hottest cheerleader in school. And before he could engage his brain and tell himself all of the reasons why he should just turn her down and go get malasadas with his Grunts, Guzma found himself walking through the gate of the park with Burnet’s lean body pressed lightly against his side. 

As they walked together, a soft breeze stirred the grass, rustling the leaves of the bamboo plants at the edges of the garden, sending shimmering ripples over the surfaces of the park’s many ponds. As their feet sounded hollow notes against the gold-painted boards of the foot bridge near the entrance, Burnet ran her fingertips lightly over his forearm.

“I noticed that the cast is already off,” she observed, poking at his violet skull tattoo.

“Huh? Oh, yeah…” Guzma chuckled, keeping his eyes on the path ahead of them, still trying to figure out why the hell he was indulging her like this. “Doc couldn’t figure out why the damage healed so quick, but I figure you and I both know the answer to that one.”

Burnet smiled up at him in that adorable way of hers, her expression genuinely pleased. “I’m glad,” she said softly, resting her palm over the arm in question, holding onto his arm with both hands now.

Glancing sidelong at her, Guzma felt his cheeks colour a bit, and he quickly returned his gaze to the path. Taking the fork that led up past the restaurant to the multi-level shrine, he remained quiet for a long time, his expression clearly indicating that he was deep in thought. When Guzma finally spoke, his tone was serious, but also slightly hesitant. “I was pretty out of it that night…and…if I didn’t say thanks for doing that…” he trailed off, already feeling awkward enough as it was.

“You’re welcome,” Burnet stepped in, kind enough to give him the out. Suddenly, a flash of movement on the pond to the left of the path caught her eye, and she pulled away from him with a soft cry of excitement. “Oh! A Surskit!”

Blinking when she took off ahead of him and then crouched at the water’s edge, Guzma snorted when he saw the small Pokémon, which had been dancing along the shoreline, quickly dart away to conceal itself in the shadows under a nearby foot bridge. Shaking his head, he walked over to where Burnet was kneeling, standing next to her as he kept his eyes on the small creature. “You like Bug Pokémon?” he ventured.

She glanced up at him from where she was kneeling in the grass, sitting back on her heels. “I like _all_ Pokémon,” she replied with a smile. “But from a research standpoint, Bug Types are particularly fascinating.”

“Oh yeah?” he mused, watching as the Surskit peeped out of the shadows, then disappeared again.

“Of course!” Burnet replied with a nod. “The way that they communicate with one another, the different ways that they adapt to their environments…you could probably write an entire Doctoral Thesis on the courtship rituals of a single species, if you wanted to.” 

At that, Guzma’s gaze shifted down to where she’d knelt in the grass beside him, and he couldn’t help feeling pleased by her enthusiasm. She had an entirely different relationship to Bug Pokémon than he did, of course, but that wasn’t a bad thing. She was a Pokémon Researcher, and he was a Trainer, so the fact that they valued different attributes of the same Type made sense. And if he was being honest with himself, he really liked the fact that she could get so amped up about the kind of Pokémon he trained. Most chicks he knew were into everything _but_ bugs.

Looking back over to where the Surskit was still hiding, the gang leader smirked, cracking his knuckles and then lowering himself to one knee. Extending a hand, Guzma tapped the tip of his index finger lightly and rapidly against the surface of the water, sending a series of small ripples out from the bank. When the minute waves reached the Surskit’s feet, it peeked out from under the foot bridge and made an inquisitive chirping noise.

Burnet watched in utter fascination as the pale-haired gangster gave a series of short, high-pitched whistles through his teeth, and the tiny creature immediately beelined towards him. Skating along the surface of the pond, it reached Guzma in a matter of seconds, leaping into the air and landing on top of his head. As the gang leader snorted in amusement and sat back on his heels, the Surskit bounced up and down in the nest of white tresses, emitting a joyful trilling noise.

Looking over at Burnet, who was trying to stifle a giggle behind one hand, Guzma smirked. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” he teased, obviously unbothered by his current situation. “Maybe you can write a Doctoral Thesis on why these guys like my hair so much.”

Still trying not to laugh, Burnet pressed her lips together as she took in the adorable sight that he presented…a big, mean gang boss, sitting there with a fragile, happy little Surskit bouncing up and down on his head. Finally losing the battle, Burnet doubled over, a chorus of laughter descending from her lips. 

Guzma smiled and leaned back on one hand, sliding his legs out so they were stretched in front of him, his grey eyes softening affectionately as he listened to her giggle.

Regaining control of herself, the pale-haired scientist peered up at the Surskit and smiled. “It’s probably because she thinks your head looks like a giant water lily,” she offered, her eyes shining with a playful fondness when she met Guzma’s eyes again.

Raising a brow, the gang leader reached up and fingered one of his snow-white locks, as though he’d never really thought of that before. “Huh,” he mused, then chuckled softly. “You’re probably right…although I sure as hell don’t smell like one.”

“No,” she laughed. “You smell like rain.” 

Guzma’s fingers stilled as he glanced at her, his grey eyes questioning. 

This time, it was Burnet’s turn to blush and look away like an awkward teenager, and she suddenly became terribly absorbed in adjusting the edge of her shawl.

Seeing the shoe on the other foot for once brought a smirk to Guzma’s lips, and he reached up, waiting for the Surskit to climb onto his arm. When it did, he lowered it, his smile softening as he rubbed under the Pokémon’s chin with the tip of one finger. That had been really cute, what Burnet just said…he wasn’t aware that he smelled like anything, but she’d had to get pretty damn close to him when he was bleeding out on the floor of her lab, so if anybody was gonna know what he smelled like, it’d be her.

Burnet’s gaze drifted back to her companion, and she felt her heart warm a little as she watched him interacting with the tiny creature. Peering at the Surskit, which was trilling softly in delight as Guzma rubbed gently at its underbelly, Burnet spoke in a soft murmur. “Are you going to catch her?”

“Him,” Guzma corrected absently, then shook his head. “Nah…he’s probably worked pretty hard to be the king of this little pond, and I’m not gonna take that away from him.”

Touched, the pale-haired Professor looked back up at Guzma’s face, amazed at how their current situation had softened his normally menacing features.

Perking up suddenly, the Surskit looked over at Burnet, staring at her for a few long seconds before looking back to Guzma. Giving a series of determined chirps, the water bug bowed its head slightly, and moisture began to bead at the tip of its tiny golden horn.

Tensing when she saw the behaviour, Burnet drew back, her expression worried. “Secreting that fluid is a sign of stress…did I frighten it?”

A touch of colour rose on Guzma’s cheeks as the Surskit looked up at him happily, and he shook his head. “Uh…no, he’s fine…”

“Then why did he do that?” she asked softly, puzzled by the blush on Guzma’s face.

“He, uh…kinda likes me,” the pale-haired thug murmured, clearing his throat awkwardly as he used his free hand to gather the glistening bead of moisture onto the edge of his index finger. “So…he wanted to make me a gift for my mate.”

“Your mate?” Burnet echoed, her expression curious.

Cheeks colouring further, the gang leader nodded, extending his hand towards her. “Here.”

Serpentine eyes widening, Burnet looked at Guzma in surprise. “Me?”

He nodded.

Blinking, she looked down at the Surskit with a puzzled expression. “But why does he think that I’m your mate?”

Guzma grunted and shrugged a shoulder, pointedly avoiding her gaze. “Same reason anybody else seeing us in the park together might think that, I guess,” he offered noncommittally. 

Of course, it was a blatant lie…Guzma knew exactly why the Surskit thought they were mates. Bugs were incredibly sensitive to pheromones, so if this little guy thought they were mates, it was because the chemical signals secreted by both of their bodies told the creature it was so. He’d been trying to tell himself that Burnet’s interest in him wasn’t sexual, that the flirting was just part of their banter…but the four-legged hormone detector on his arm had just gone and smashed that little illusion straight to hell.

The Professor made a soft, contemplative noise, her eyes tracing the flush on Guzma’s cheek as he kept his hand extended to her. For a moment, she wondered why he didn’t try to correct the small creature…why he seemed to have accepted the way in which they’d been understood. Then, her gaze flitted down to the Surskit, who was looking up at her with such a cheerful and expectant look on its adorable little face, and she realised that it might be because he didn’t want to hurt the Surskit’s feelings.

Laughing softly, she shook her head. “I see.”

Quirking a brow, Guzma turned his head to look at her. “What?”

The honeyed depths of Burnet’s eyes were rich with warmth and amusement when she met his gaze. “Nothing,” she said with a poorly supressed note of affection, although her expression clearly showed that she found something about their situation immensely entertaining. Shifting closer to him on the grass, Burnet braced her weight on one hand, lifting the other one to reach for his. The silken pads of her fingertips brushed lightly over Guzma’s scarred knuckles as she took hold of his hand, her grip gentle as she leaned forward and parted her lips over the tip of his finger.

The first flick of Burnet’s tongue against his skin sent a chorus of shivers up the length of Guzma’s spine, and his body immediately reacted as if he were watching the best porno money could buy. His heart started pounding, and it took every ounce of his strength to sit there and keep his hand still while the snow-haired beauty licked the sweet fluid off of his skin. He watched, transfixed, as her eyes slipped closed, a soft noise of pleasure escaping her throat.

When the Professor finally drew back, a thin strand of saliva hung between her lower lip and the tip of Guzma’s finger for a split second, gleaming like a thread of spun silver in the moonlight before it broke. She trailed the tip of her tongue over her lower lip, then sat back on her heels.

Guzma just stared at her dumbly, hand still extended, hanging in midair.

Looking down at the Surskit with a warm smile, Burnet spoke to it cheerfully. “Thank you, Surskit. That was a wonderful gift.” 

The tiny Pokémon trilled with delight, then leapt from Guzma’s arm onto the surface of the water, spinning a few pirouettes for them before dancing away across the pond.

Burnet watched it as it went, a calm smile on her face as it darted out across the clear water…king of its own tiny domain, just like the man who was seated beside her. “That was wonderful,” she murmured.

“Yeah,” Guzma grunted as he jerked his hand back and shook it out, shifting awkwardly where he sat on the grass. His finger was still tingling where she’d licked it clean, and his body was hotter than hell.

Burnet’s gaze went to him, and she cocked her head slightly. “Is something wrong?”

Guzma lifted the leg closest to Burnet so that it blocked her view of his hard-on, and he rested his arm on his knee, shaking his head. “Nope…just gonna need a few minutes,” he grunted, keeping his gaze fixed on the water. “Go for a walk, and I’ll be fine when you get back.”

It took a moment for realisation to dawn, but when it did, Burnet bit her lower lip to stifle a laugh. “Ah,” she acknowledged, smiling and blushing a little as she rose to her feet. “Right…I guess I’ll go for a walk, then.” 

He nodded, staring out at the water. After a couple of minutes, he allowed his eyes to drift over to where the pale-haired Professor was wandering along the path, the moonlight gleaming off the white material of her dress as the breeze stirred her snow-white tresses. When she paused in the middle of the foot bridge, Guzma watched as she leaned over the railing, a bright smile on her face as she spoke cheerfully to a Magikarp that had surfaced in hopes of being fed. 

He didn’t understand how, after everything they’d been through at Aether, Burnet was still capable of exuding the innocence and enthusiasm that made her so attractive to him. For most people, being swathed in corruption 24/7 would’ve turned them hard, bitter…but it only seemed to make her shine more brightly. It was a kind of strength that Guzma really couldn’t understand.

He sighed, lifting the arm that was resting on his knee and reaching up to rub at his forehead, just beneath where his glasses were resting. Yeahhh, he really couldn’t kid himself about how much he liked her. She was beautiful, and cheerful, and strong-willed…and smarter than hell, too. And he really did enjoy the way she refused to be intimidated by him. But the fact that they were both into each other was a real problem, because he was only going to disappoint her. There was no way that anything between them would ever last…

Lowering his hand again, Guzma continued to watch Burnet as she moved through the garden, his wildly beating heart having slowed to a more mellow rhythm as he’d sat there in contemplation. He still wasn’t sure why she’d come to Ula’Ula tonight. Despite what he’d said to his Grunts, he was almost positive that she hadn’t come to watch the fight…although the fact that she’d known when it was (and where it would be held) only confirmed his suspicions that she and Kukui were collaborating as part of her efforts to slow Lusamine down.

Having calmed the tide of his hormones, Guzma slowly rose to his feet, slipping his hands into his pockets as he waited for Burnet to return to his side. When she did, he lifted a brow in inquiry. “So…is there a purpose to this walk, or…?”

She laughed, lifting one delicate hand to brush some of her hair back behind one ear, her expression clearly saying _you caught me._ “Let’s go to the shrine,” she offered.

“I’m not a ‘shrine’ kinda guy,” he grunted.

“Let’s go to the shrine anyway.”

Snorting, Guzma rolled his eyes. “Sure, because it’s not like running a gang keeps me busy or anything.”

Bracing a hand on one hip, Burnet quirked a brow at him somewhat dubiously. “Yes, because a ‘malasada run’ must be of critical importance to your role as a gang leader.”

Stiffening when he realised she’d overheard him on the way out of Malie Garden, he stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Shit, I can’t get anything by you, can I?” he mused, shaking his head.

“I’m sure you can, but it’d be nice if you’d stop trying,” she returned with a wry smile.

“Yeah, yeah,” he sighed, holding his arm out for her to take. “You’re just lucky I’m in a good mood tonight.”

“Really?” she teased, looking up at him with a playful grin as she slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. “With a face that scary, it’s really hard to tell.”

His eyes glittered with amusement as he looked down at her, that feral gleam flashing in his eyes once again. “There you go with those claws again,” he purred, the pale circle of the moon reflected in the two-thirds lens of his glasses as he peered down at her. “You’re only gonna get away with scratchin’ me so many times, you know.”

A shiver of delight ran through Burnet’s body at the playful note of warning in Guzma’s voice, and she laughed softly. “I know,” she returned with a smile, her gaze openly affectionate as she gazed up at him. “What can I say? You inspire me to live dangerously,” she joked, giving his arm a gentle squeeze.

“Hmph,” Guzma snorted, turning away from that adorable expression to look at the path ahead of them again. “Figured that when you showed up in Po Town riding a fuckin’ shiny. You’re damn lucky I was there.”

Burnet’s playful smile faltered, then morphed into something sensual. “I certainly was,” she returned smoothly, her serpentine eyes shimmering with amusement. “I mean, if you hadn’t been there, I never would’ve learned that you can put four teenagers in a headlock at the same time.”

Caught off-guard by the compliment, Guzma gave her a puzzled look, instantly regretting it when that sultry expression immediately got his blood pumping again. “Dammit, you’re really out for blood tonight, aren’t you?”

Burnet laughed, shaking her head as she pulled away from him to mount the steps leading to the front door of the multi-level shrine. “You started it.”

“Did I?” he mused, unable to help an intrigued smile as he watched her ascend the steps in front of him, wondering what in the hell she was up to. Following behind her, he stood off to one side as she went up to the shrine’s intricately carved double doors. 

Reaching out, Burnet unclipped the velvet rope that had been fastened across the entryway, from which a “CLOSED” sign was currently hanging. Trying one of the ornate bronze handles, she pouted when she found that the doors had been locked. “Ah…I didn’t think they’d lock the temple at night,” she mused, clearly disappointed.

Guzma snickered. “Yeah, who woulda thought they’d lock shit up on an island where a gang’s running loose?”

Rolling her eyes, Burnet threw an exasperated glare at him over one shoulder. “You’re not helping.”

Grinning, he just stood there, hands in his pockets. “Did you want me to?”

Burnet blinked at him, then took a step back from the door and turned towards him, her expression genuinely intrigued. She stared at him like a child might stare at a magician who was about to pull something out of a hat.

Guzma’s body stiffened in surprise at her reaction. He hadn’t expected her to look at him that way, and the fact that she did so was unexpectedly arousing. He’d thought she’d get all uppity about it being wrong to force entry into a sacred building, but instead, she was just standing there looking at him like it was perfectly normal to pick the lock on a door that stood between you and something you wanted. Of course, showing off such a basic skill from his criminal repertoire wasn’t something that’d impress most of the people he hung out with, so the fact that Burnet seemed to be into it only made him want to do it more. 

Smirking, Guzma took hold of the gold skull medallion that hung around his neck, hooking his fingernail in the edge of one of the teeth and sliding a small hidden compartment out from inside of it. Tipping it over, he dumped two small, thin pieces of metal into his open palm and went over to the door.

“What, you just carry lock-picking tools on you?” the Professor observed, obviously impressed.

“When you’ve been in handcuffs as many times as I have, it’s usually a good idea,” he joked, stepping past her and dropping to one knee in front of the door. Inspecting the lock, he scoffed at the simplicity of the mechanism, sliding the two pieces of metal into the keyhole. A sly smirk curved his lips as he began to work the tools around, feeling out the lever and the deadbolt. “You realise that by watching me do this, you’re becoming an accessory to breaking and entering, right?” he teased.

The comment flew over Burnet’s head, because she was currently engrossed in staring at his hands, trying to figure out why she was so aroused by what he was doing.

When Burnet didn’t come back at him with a snippy response, Guzma quirked a brow, glancing back at her over his shoulder. She had leaned over slightly to watch him, her fingers curled tightly in the edges of her shawl as she focused on his hands with a look of intense concentration. That look in her eyes was unmistakable…she wasn’t just _into_ what he was doing—she was turned on. The realisation made Guzma’s lips twist into a diabolical grin, and his grey eyes narrowed appreciatively. “Damn, Bright Eyes, if I knew a little B&E was gonna get you this hot, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”

Startled, Burnet caught her breath, straightening and looking away as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I’m not!” she protested, though it was obvious she was lying. “I’ve just…never seen someone do something like this before, so I was…interested!”

“Uh-huh,” he returned dubiously, still grinning at her. 

She scowled at him, but the look in her eyes was genuinely conflicted now.

Ah, shit…that was no fun. He’d liked the way she’d been looking at him before. “Hey,” he called, leaving the small tools sticking out of the lock as he turned towards her.

Burnet flinched and bit her lower lip, averting her gaze like a kid who’d just been punished for something.

Guzma smiled, rising to his feet and approaching her. Now he was kinda glad that he’d teased her, because the way she was acting right now was way too cute. Stopping in front of her, he reached out and ran his fingertips along her bare forearm, just beneath the edge of the pale violet shawl. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have teased you like that,” he soothed.

Lifting her head, Burnet blinked at him, obviously surprised by the apology.

The gang leader offered up his most charming smile, letting his hand fall back to his side. “It’s okay, you know,” he encouraged. “You’re a good girl, right? And you’re standing there watching me do something bad…kinda normal to get turned on by that.”

Her blush deepened, and she shifted uncomfortably, her expression dubious.

Grinning, Guzma reached out and took her left hand, pulling her back towards the door of the shrine. “C’mon.”

“What?” she squeaked. “Guzma, what are you—" 

“You’ll see,” he promised, guiding her over to stand in front of the door and then releasing her hand, moving to stand behind her. “Now, get down so you’re level with it.”

Eyes widening, Burnet tried to look back at him, catching her breath when he took hold of her left shoulder and pushed down in an unspoken request for her to kneel. “Wha—no, no wait, Guzma, I’m not—”

“Take a knee, sweetheart,” he said flatly.

Biting her lip, Burnet exhaled a short breath through her nostrils. For a long moment, she hesitated, but when Guzma just stood there behind her, waiting patiently, she finally turned back towards the door with a soft noise of resignation. Gathering up her skirts, she carefully lowered herself to her knees, fingers curling into the silky material over her thighs as she waited. Her breath hitched when Guzma dropped down behind her, straddling her ankles and molding the front of his body to her back. Then his arms came around her shoulders, the scent of warm rain enveloping her as he slid his palms down her bare forearms. Taking hold of her hands, Guzma guided them up to where the two metal pins were sticking out of the keyhole. 

“Take one in each hand,” he instructed, smirking when she caught her breath and mewed softly. Now that he was this close to her, he was catching a faint hint of whatever perfume she was wearing, and while it was subtle, there was a strange note of familiarity to it that tugged at his awareness. Pressing his cheek against the side of Burnet’s head so he could see what they were doing, Guzma dropped his voice to a low, teasing purr. “Remember, I’ve seen you wrenching on shit, so it’s too late for you to fake that you’re bad with tools.”

Burnet’s heart was thumping against the inside of her ribcage, every one of Guzma’s warm breaths against the back of her ear sending quivers of pleasure down her spine to pool in the pit of her stomach. She’d known from tending to his unconscious form that he was well-built, but maneuvering his unconscious body around to do first aid was a far cry from having his very warm, very solid, and very _awake_ body curled around her like this. From the press of his firm chest against her upper back, to the steady grip of his hands on her own, everything about Guzma radiated a sense of leashed strength, and her body was responding to it in full chorus.

“This one’s pretty basic,” the gangster stated, his grip on her hands firm but gentle as he guided them. “You just use the top tool to lift the lever, like this,” he explained, tilting her left hand up, “…then you feel around with the bottom one until you get some resistance.” Guzma shifted her right hand slightly, his voice a low and sensual caress against the shell of her ear. 

The soft grate of Guzma’s voice sent a shudder down Burnet’s spine, a continuous chorus of _damn it damn it damn it_ running through her head as she tried to ignore the feeling of heat pooling between her legs.

“Then, you just go like this—” Guzma guided her hand so it pressed the tool to one side, and there was a loud _clunk_ as the lock disengaged. “And there you go.”

Burnet’s heart missed a beat when the deadbolt released, and she swallowed hard, trying to calm her rapid breathing. Part of her wanted to press back against Guzma’s body, or pull his arms tighter around her…but the intellectual part of her remembered that he’d done this to antagonize her, and stubbornly stamped the urge down. Drawing a deep breath, she closed her eyes, waiting to see what he would do.

One corner of Guzma’s mouth kicked upward when Burnet remained completely still, because he was pressed close enough against her body to hear the unsteady pace of her breathing. Yeah, he was a mean bastard for doing this to her, but she could consider it payback for the way she’d sucked the Surskit nectar off his finger earlier. 

Guiding the tools out of her hands, Guzma leaned back and slipped them back into the tiny slot in his medallion, then rose to his feet and reached out to open the door. Stepping past her into the shrine, he snickered to himself. 

Burnet remained on her knees, cheeks deeply flushed as she clenched her hands in her shawl, trying to get her racing heart back under control. The side of her neck and the back of her ear were still tingling, and she swallowed hard as she tried to suppress another shiver. Even though she’d stubbornly resisted the urge to press herself back into the heat and firmness of Guzma’s body, that didn’t mean that she hadn’t _wanted_ to. And that stubbornness sure as hell wasn’t doing much to help with the physical response her body was having as a result of what had just occurred. 

“You might wanna get in here and close the door before someone sees you,” Guzma called back to her, his tone of voice blatantly taunting.

That snapped her out of it. Growling under her breath, Burnet rose to her feet, turning around to fasten the velvet rope across the doorway as it had been before. Stepping into the shrine, she closed the door quietly behind her, and locked it again. Her legs felt a bit quivery as she leaned back against a post to remove her sandals, and she kept leaning up against it for a good minute before she allowed her sandals to fall from her fingers and land on the floor. Lifting her head, she noticed that Guzma hadn’t bothered to take off his sneakers when he’d come inside.

“Take off your shoes, you degenerate,” she called irritably. “You’re in a temple.”

Guzma laughed, looking back at her with a taunting grin on his face. “Why? I told you, I’m not into all this Tapu Yoyo bullshit.”

“I just broke the law for your entertainment,” she shot back, her heart still fluttering in her chest as she tried to ignore the moist heat between her legs. “The least you can do is humour me and take your shoes off.”

Staring at her for a moment, Guzma rolled his eyes and let out a petulant sigh. “Fine.” Toeing his sneakers off, he kicked them over towards where she was standing, then turned around to walk the rest of the way into the shrine.

Even though it was after hours, the interior of the small temple was cast in a warm glow by the soft light of electric lanterns that had been designed to flicker like flames. At the far end of the room, four large statues of the Island Guardians looked down on them from a raised platform, their richly painted hides rendering them strangely lifelike in the low lighting. On the floor before them stood a single one-ton block of black stone—probably volcanic rock from Wela Volcano—which had been draped with some sort of altar cloth, bearing stripes of red, yellow, pink, and purple…the colours of the Island Challenge markers. And resting upon the cloth were piles of Berries, coins, and exotic flowers, undoubtedly placed there as offerings to the four Tapu.

Guzma’s lip curled in disgust, and he averted his gaze with a soft ‘tch’ noise, looking back to where Burnet, now barefoot, had padded up behind him. “So why did you bring me in here, anyway?” 

Puzzled by the sudden shift in Guzma’s mood, Burnet drew her shawl a little tighter around her shoulders, looking at him seriously. “I wanted to speak with you somewhere where we wouldn’t be overheard.”

His expression darkened, the slight downward tilt of his chin causing the fake lantern light to glint off one of the dark lenses of his glasses. “So talk.”

Averting her gaze, Burnet sighed. “Professor Kukui has been keeping tabs on how Hau and that other Trainer have been doing, and he said that there’s been a much greater presence of Team Skull members on the islands where they’re completing their challenges. Almost as if you’re following them.”

Guzma’s eyes narrowed. “So?”

“So a couple of weeks ago, I started to wonder if I’d gone to all that trouble to get Lillie into Aether Paradise for nothing,” Burnet growled, her serpentine eyes flashing catlike in the low lighting. “I started following the news a lot more closely, started talking to the Kahunas, and to Hau. And it didn’t take long to figure out that no matter where this kid turned up, they were always facing off with your Grunts…but Team Skull was always losing.”

Again, the gang leader shrugged. “Yeah, well, I don’t have time to teach two dozen little assholes how to fight, Bright Eyes. They gotta figure that shit out on their own.” 

“And for a while, I thought that maybe that was the case,” Burnet replied, her eyes still narrowed, their almost feline hue giving her an appearance that was both alluring and threatening. “And then I heard about the showdown on Akala Island, just before the Grand Trial with Olivia.”

Guzma tensed, clenching his fists tightly in his pockets. 

“Your second in command’s no slouch,” Burnet observed flatly.

Jaw muscles ticking, Guzma drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “No…she’s not,” he muttered.

A hint of a smile curved the corner of the Professor’s mouth. “So you _do_ have gang members who know how to battle well…you just chose to position them at points where the Trainer would be able to handle them.”

There was a flicker of something dangerous in Guzma’s eyes as he turned them on her, but he remained still. “You don’t know that.”

Burnet’s smile faded, her expression serious as she held the gang leader’s gaze. “Actually, I do. And I came to watch the fight tonight because I wanted to confirm my suspicions.”

Again, that flicker, like the light in the eyes of a caged animal. “And did you?”

“Yes,” Burnet declared firmly. “But I want to hear you say it.”

The dangerous light flickering in the gang leader’s grey eyes flared hotter, and Guzma growled low in his throat. “And what is it you wanna hear?”

Unfazed, Burnet pressed on. “You threw that fight tonight, didn’t you?” she pushed, unwavering. “If you’d _really_ wanted to crush that Trainer, the way Lusamine probably ordered you to, you wouldn’t have stopped at two Pokémon.”

Guzma bristled, then slowly forced himself to relax. Rolling his shoulders, he sniffed indifferently. “I told you back on Aether Paradise, I’m not dumb enough to draw out fights that’ll get my team hurt.”

“Guzma.”

Brows drawing downward, Guzma looked over at her. “What?” 

Burnet drew a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “When I pulled you out of Aether Paradise that night, I did it with no expectations that you’d be grateful, or that you’d ever give me anything in return. I just did the right thing, like you expected me to.”

His eyes darkened again, but he said nothing.

Burnet’s expression softened. “But if I _were_ to ask for something…it would be for honesty, in this moment, right now.”

The gang leader remained silent.

“Guzma…I _know_ that Team Skull has received orders to try and take Cosmog back to Aether Paradise. There’s no way that you haven’t. And I put a lot on the line to get Lillie into the basement labs to steal that thing, as a way to try and slow down the Ultra Wormhole project.” She hesitated for a moment, then added, softly, “and as a way to protect you.” Clenching her fists, she looked at him seriously, her expression earnest. “I need to know right now if you and your gang are on my side in this, or on Lusamine’s. Because if you’re helping Lusamine, I need to start thinking of other ways to delay the project. I can only have so many mechanical ‘breakdowns’ before it starts looking suspicious.”

Guzma held the Professor’s gaze for a long time. Back when he’d started dropping hints to her during their occasional run-ins on Aether Paradise, he’d hoped that she’d have the integrity to do something to stop the corrupt organization she was working for, before it destroyed them all. And as it turned out, she had…and she’d gone a hell of a further in her attempts to delay doomsday than he’d ever thought she would. And Burnet deserved to know if he was getting in the way of that.

“Damn it—” he growled, his shoulders slumping as he let out a sigh of frustration. Slipping a hand out of one pocket, Guzma reached up to rake it through the pale locks of his hair. “Look…running a gang is a portable skill, okay? If I didn’t like Alola, I wouldn’t be here,” he confessed sulkily. “I don’t want that crazy bitch tearing the sky a new asshole any more than you do.” Dropping the hand to his side, Guzma lifted his head and looked at Burnet wearily. “And I know what you’ve done to try and stop that from happening. I do.”

“That doesn’t answer my question about whether or not you threw the fight tonight,” she pressed.

“Of _course_ I threw the damn fight!” he snarled. “I want that kid amped up and hungry, because I’ve seen the team that they’re gonna go up against!” His eyes were wild as he spoke, the gold skull medallion around his neck glinting as he waved emphatically towards the narrow windows of the shrine. “I’m gonna throw every damn Grunt that I’ve got up against that kid to get them ready. I’ve even got Plumeria ready to start shit that’s gonna bring the brat to my doorstep, because until that little puke can tear down the whole gang to get to me, they’re not ready. I don’t give a fuck _what_ the kahunas and their stupid little Captains say. You think Lusamine gives a shit about Z-moves?” Turning, he spat right on the floor of the shrine, then turned his storm-swept eyes on hers again. “Kukui’s a moron if he thinks the Challenges and the Grand Trials are gonna be enough to train this kid up. So I’m doing my fucking part, just like everybody else.”

Overcome with relief, Burnet sighed, her posture relaxing visibly. “Thank Arceus,” she murmured. As a soft breeze from outside drew a few haunting creaks from the ancient rafters, she smiled a little, her yellow-green eyes softening. “I knew you wouldn’t just go along with it…”

“Tch,” Guzma scoffed, seeing the look on her face and averting his eyes. “Don’t go looking at me like I’m some kind of hero,” he muttered. “My motivations here are entirely selfish.”

“Oh yeah?” she shot back, eyes narrowing slightly. “That’s real funny, because a selfish man doesn’t usually put the needs of a bunch of homeless kids before his own. And a selfish man wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of deleting that security footage for me, either.” Resting a hand on one hip, Burnet raised a brow imperiously. “You wanna run that one by me again, Guzma?”

The gang leader tensed as if he’d been goosed, then averted his gaze sulkily. She’d caught him. Shoulders slumping again, he stared down at the polished wooden floor, watching the reflections of the fake lantern light as they danced along the grains of its time-worn surface. “So is that why you brought me here?” he muttered. “To make sure I wasn’t gonna get in your way?”

“No,” she confessed softly. “That was only part of it.”

Frowning, Guzma raised his head to look at her, puzzled by the way she’d spoken just then.

“After I figured out what you were actually doing…to know that I wasn’t alone in this…it helped so much,” she explained. “When I first acted out against Aether, I was afraid, because it was just me doing what I was doing, and I didn’t know what would happen if Lusamine found out. That’s why I eventually brought Kukui on board…because…” she trailed off, winced, then continued. “I wanted another person to know what was going on, in case I went missing.”

Guzma winced, having said something like that to Burnet himself, about a month ago. He’d never wanted the naïve Professor to know what that kind of situation felt like, but with her no longer being ignorant to the nature of the organization she was working for, and with her actively doing shit to stop it, there was nothing he could do to protect her from it any more. She was on her own, now. Sighing, the gang leader gave a noncommittal shrug. “Like I said…you’re smart enough that you eventually would’ve figured out what was going on at Aether on your own.”

“But I don’t think I would have, Guzma,” she insisted. “Not without you prodding me the way you did. It wasn’t until I saw what happened to you that I started digging, and then I _really_ saw the extent of what was going on all around me. I was so laser-focused on my own research that I didn’t have a clue that I was surrounded by monsters.” She hesitated, then muttered, “both literal and figurative.”

The gang leader snorted in bitter amusement. “Sucks, doesn’t it?”

Burnet gazed at him sadly, sensing that part of the reason he was so miserable right now was because this dark, unethical world was one that he’d never wanted to drag her into. But now that she was knee-deep in the mire, there was no going back…and even if she could go back to the way things had been before she’d met him, she wouldn’t. As the quiet stretched out between them, Burnet eventually managed to force a smile. “Anyway…” she continued, “I’m grateful. You gave me the initial push to do the right thing, and even now, you’re still doing the right thing alongside me. So I’m happy.”

Guzma grunted awkwardly, shifting his weight as he quirked a brow. “And you had me break into a shrine just to tell me that?”

She smirked. “Technically _I_ broke into the shrine, Guzma. You just helped me.”

He snorted, shaking his head. “Uh-huh. But it’s still a lot of trouble to go to, just to play twenty questions and then say ‘thanks.’”

“That…wasn’t all of it,” she murmured, shyly averting her gaze as she reached up to adjust the black band of obsidian stones that was holding her hair back.

Again, there was that puzzling, mysterious note in her voice. Not sure what to make of it, Guzma peered at her curiously, wondering what she was up to.

For a long moment, Burnet kept her gaze averted, a faint hint of colour rising on her lightly tanned cheeks as she reached up to finger the button on her shawl. Undoing it, she let the pale violet fabric slide down her bare arms to pool on the floor, revealing the top half of the strapless dress she was wearing, which had previously been concealed. The bodice was iridescent white with a six-inch wide vertical strip of pale lavender in the center, and stitched into the sides of it, curving upwards, were four coils of ribbed white fabric that ended in claw-shaped obsidian inlays. When she did a slow turn in place to show him the back of the dress, the lantern light revealed three horizontal bars of white fabric with a single grey triangle at the center of each one.

He’d have had to have been blind not to know that she’d modeled the dress after Golisopod…and the fact that she’d done it had left him completely speechless.

Turning to face him again, Burnet smiled hopefully when she saw the way that Guzma was staring at her, completely transfixed. “What do you think?” she asked softly.

 _I think I’m in big fucking trouble,_ was Guzma’s immediate reaction, and he swallowed hard. She looked gorgeous, and the fact that she’d fashioned something like this after his partner was turning his crank harder than a whole stack of girlie mags. He wanted to put his hands on her, feel out those mock claws, squeeze her breasts under his palms…

Shaking himself abruptly, Guzma swallowed hard. He had to shut this down, because making a dress like that just to get him riled was too thoughtful, too intimate…and Guzma didn’t have the heart to take a nice girl like her down a dead-end street. It killed him to do it, but he forced a contemptible smile, tilting his chin up slightly as though he wasn’t impressed and captivated by the beautiful picture she presented.

“I think you’re trying too hard.”

Burnet’s smile faltered, then faded altogether as her expression grew sad. “Guzma…I know that isn’t how you feel. Why are you trying to push me away?”

Forcing himself to keep the grin on his face, Guzma shrugged. “I’m just doing you a favour.”

Her eyes darkened, but she said nothing.

Smirk fading slightly, Guzma sighed. “Look, Bright Eyes…you’ve got enough going on upstairs to know it’s a bad idea for you to get involved with me.”

“You think I don’t know that?!?” she snarled.

The angry reply took Guzma off guard, and he gazed dumbly at her, the Professor’s sudden fury transforming her normally placid and cheerful countenance into the visage of a war goddess.

Standing there with her fists clenched at her sides, Burnet glared at him resentfully, her eyes blazing citrine in the heat of her frustration. “Guzma, I’m not stupid! And even if I was, it doesn’t take Doctorate-level intelligence to know that it’s a bad idea for someone in my position to put the moves on a gang boss!”

“Oh yeah?” he shot back, waving one hand towards the dress that she was wearing. “If you know that, then what’s up with the fashion show?”

“Because the part of my brain that knows it’s a bad idea doesn’t seem to have relayed that message to my endocrine system, you jackass!”

Guzma stared at her, waiting for a few seconds before slowly lifting one eyebrow.

Trembling faintly as adrenaline coursed through her body, Burnet glared at him in the throes of her petulant ire, staring into Guzma’s eyes for a good minute before realising that he was waiting for her to explain something. Frowning as she tried to remember what she’d just said, she drew in a sharp breath as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Shoulders scrunching, she turned away and scowled at the floor. “It’s…the part of your body that’s responsible for hormone production,” she muttered.

A snort of amusement hitched in Guzma’s throat, and when Burnet turned a furious look on him again, he burst out laughing.

“Oh, ha _ha_ ,” she crowed at him sulkily, “like I was supposed to know that a degenerate like you wouldn’t know where hormones come from!”

The gang leader only laughed harder at that, and Burnet let out a strangled noise of frustration as he doubled over with the force of it. Bristling, she turned her back on him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Of all the insufferable…” Seething, she cursed herself for ever being stupid enough to try and seduce him.

Quickly regaining his composure, Guzma cleared his throat and lifted a hand to scratch at the corner of one eye, feeling a little bad for laughing at her. Walking over to where she was standing, he extended a hand and gently rested it on her upper arm. “Hey,” he called softly. When she didn’t turn to look at him, he stroked the pad of his thumb gently against her skin. “Look…I love the fact that you’re into me, don’t get me wrong. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to bump uglies with you.” He shrugged. “But this isn’t gonna go anywhere—and you and I both know that. So why even get into it to start with?”

Slowly, Burnet turned towards him with narrowed eyes, looking at him with an expression that someone might turn on a hideously deformed Poliwrath. “That is probably _the_ most condescending thing you’ve ever said to me. Which is impressive, because you’ve set the bar pretty high,” she growled, clearly offended.

“Huh?” Guzma drew back, then frowned at her in confusion. “How is that condescending? I’m being realistic!”

“You’re being _sexist!_ ” she shot back. “You’re acting like you know what’s best for me, as if the only thing an educated woman could possibly want from you is a series of date nights, wedding bells, and a house with a white picket fence!”

Guzma’s eyes narrowed dubiously. “Those aren’t things that you want?”

“Of _course_ they’re things I want!” she snarled. “But not with _you,_ you dumbass!” 

A noise of exasperation escaped her throat, and she rolled her eyes heavenward, reaching up to rub at her temples. She stood there for a good thirty seconds, massaging the sides of her head as she collected her thoughts. Drawing a deep breath through her nose, she exhaled it as a frustrated sigh. Finally lowering her hands, Burnet fixed her companion with a serious gaze. “Look…Guzma…you _already_ have a family,” she declared firmly, the flickering light of the lanterns playing across her features as she spoke. “And I’ve never had any illusions about Team Skull being the kind of family I’d ever marry into. That isn’t what I want. And that was _never_ what I wanted from you.”

Awestruck by that particular revelation, Guzma just stood there and stared at her. It hadn’t occurred to him that his assumptions about her might have been just as off-base as her initial assumptions about him. And just like she’d started out treating him unfairly based on what she thought she knew about him, he was treating her unfairly based on what he thought he knew about her. 

Hell, they were quite the pair, weren’t they?

Humbled, Guzma looked down at the wooden floor of the shrine, one hand drifting up to run over the dark hair at the back of his head. So, she didn’t expect something long-term out of this…while he hadn’t expected that to be the case, it was a relief. It meant she wouldn’t be disappointed when things didn’t last. Eventually lifting his gaze, Guzma considered her carefully.

“So…what _do_ you want from me?” he ventured, his grey eyes intent as he searched hers.

“An apology would be nice,” she muttered.

Guzma laughed, dropping his hand to his side. “All right, all right. Sorry for being a jerk.”

She grunted in acknowledgement, her posture relaxing slightly. 

Sidling closer, Guzma smirked. “Now, what do you _really_ want from me?”

Arms still crossed over her chest, Burnet raised a brow, peering at him sidelong as she gave another soft grunt. She seemed to be debating internally about whether he’d been a good enough boy to get out of the ‘time out’ chair yet. 

Snickering, Guzma slid his hands back into his pockets, drawing a little closer and leaning his head down to nuzzle her upper arm, looking up at her like an expectant Rockruff who’d been oh so very good. “C’mon, Bright Eyes,” he teased. “Tell me what you want.”

Drawing a deep breath, Burnet let it out in a soft huff. “Well…sex would be nice, if I’m being completely honest.”

Startled, the gangster straightened up, blinking at her in evident surprise. 

She snorted in amusement at his response, uncrossing her arms and quirking a brow. “What, after being such a colossal jerk, did you think I was just going to ask for flowers?” Reaching out, she gave him a playful shove.

Stumbling back a step when she pushed him, Guzma snickered, then shook his head. Drawing a deep breath, he rolled his shoulders, exhaling slowly as all of the reasons he’d been using to hold himself back began to crumble and fall away. When he turned his feral grin on her now, the expression was much darker, his grey eyes gleaming like the eyes of a Sharpedo that had scented blood in the water. “Aren’t you just full of surprises?” he murmured.

That look made Burnet shiver, but she remained where she was standing, staring him down. It hadn’t really occurred to her how much Guzma might’ve been holding back until now…he’d been playing it so cool that there were moments when she wasn’t even sure if he was interested. It wasn’t until that Surskit had given them their little ‘gift’ that she’d known for sure that he was attracted to her. And as Guzma drew closer to where she was standing, Burnet was suddenly reminded of a Midnight Form Lycanroc…those dark, swaggering predators whose bodies radiated power even when they were standing still…deceptively laid back, yet always ready to land a decisive blow if the need arose. It was an aspect of his demeanour that she’d always been attuned to on a subconscious level, but now, her body was responding to it with a very different type of awareness. 

Moving to stand in front of her, Guzma gazed down at the bodice of her dress for a few seconds, his hands tucked deep in the pockets of his baggy pants. Then, in one sudden move, his hand shot out and caught hold of her left forearm, pulling it up so he could press his nose against the inside of her wrist. Drawing in the sweet scent that he’d noticed when they were breaking into the shrine, Guzma uttered a low growl. He hadn’t been able to place the familiar scent at that moment, but now that recognition had dawned, his arousal was burning much hotter. “You smell like Surskit,” he observed in a low purr, his grey eyes gleaming appreciatively.

Burnet’s heart missed a beat at the declaration, the look on his face immediately causing a spike in her body temperature. Losing herself in that hungry gaze, she nodded. “My friend…has a small business distilling essential oils,” she murmured. “He’s really good at making scents that imitate things.”

Guzma’s eyes narrowed slightly with the force of his desire, and he drew another slow breath, savouring the subtle scent on her skin. “You’re something else, Bright Eyes,” he muttered, removing his other hand from his pocket and reaching out to take her other wrist. Placing both of her hands on his chest, he covered them with his own, kneading them with the pads of his thumbs as he gazed into her eyes with a smug but appreciative smirk. “Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever had a chick go this far to get me into her pants.”

Burnet snorted, tilting her chin up with a coy smirk. “Well, to be fair, Guzma…you weren’t exactly responding to subtlety.”

He snickered at the remark, lips twisting into that feral leer once again. “You want me to respond, huh?” 

Eyes narrowing, Burnet stepped forward and pressed her body against his as firmly as she could manage, a note of challenge in her voice as she held his gaze. “You think I’d be wearing a dress like this if I didn’t?”

Cursing softly, Guzma released Burnet’s hands and grabbed the sides of her face, tugging her into a rough, searching kiss. He felt her hands slide up under the back of his hooded shirt as their tongues met, his breath hitching when sharp nails dragged over the back of his t-shirt. 

After a few heated seconds, Burnet suddenly pulled back, blinking at him in surprise. “What is that?”

Realising that his tongue stud was the source of the naïve Professor’s confused murmur, Guzma snickered, reaching down to grab one of her wrists and pulling her hand to his lips. Taking her index finger into his mouth, he slid the steel ball along the edge of her finger, then pressed the piercing firmly against the soft, fleshy pad. 

Burnet made a strangled noise of surprise as the move sent a wave of heat coursing through her entire body, her eyes wide as the warm metal ball pressed against her skin. The colour on her cheeks deepened as she curled her finger gently against the piercing where it emerged from Guzma’s tongue, a soft and almost excited noise of desire escaping her lips.

The flames of Guzma’s lust were already burning hot, but that innocent reaction just fanned them even higher. The gang leader pulled Burnet’s hand free of his mouth and kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight against his body as they frenched. Now, the slide of her mouth against his own was more eager, and Guzma’s fingers dug into the back of her dress when he felt the tip of her tongue pointedly searching out the piercing again and again.

Breaking the kiss to explore Burnet’s jawline and the side of her neck with a low growl of want, Guzma groaned in pleasure when the Professor lifted her knee and pressed her thigh firmly against the rise of his hard-on.

“Guzma,” she moaned softly, her breath hitching when the stroke of his pierced tongue along the side of her neck made her body respond with a powerful shiver of delight. She spread her hands against his back, just beneath his shoulder blades, smoothing her palms greedily over the firm muscles concealed beneath his t-shirt.

The gang leader closed his eyes, both hands splaying against Burnet’s lower back as he burrowed his face into the side of her neck, drawing in the sweet scent of Surskit nectar and groaning low in pleasure. Feeling out the ridges of fabric at the back of her bodice, he searched for the tab of her zipper and cursed softly when he couldn’t find it. Bringing his hands back around to grip lightly at her shoulders, he guided Burnet back, unable to help chuckling when she made a soft noise of protest and looked at him in obvious confusion. 

“Turn around so I can find your damn zipper,” he ordered gruffly, the desire in his dark eyes amplified by the low lighting within the shrine. 

Now that she knew why he’d pushed her away, Burnet laughed, turning under his hands so that her back was to him. “Sorry…it’s one of those invisible zippers,” she murmured over one shoulder, the brush of Guzma’s scarred knuckles against her upper back making her shiver.

“No shit,” Guzma joked, finally managing to find the small fastener and taking it between his thumb and forefinger, carefully guiding it downward. As the parting fabric revealed more of Burnet’s tanned flesh to his gaze, he leaned down and slowly slid his tongue along the elegant curve of one shoulder blade, relishing the soft noise of pleasure that fell from his companion’s lips. Slipping both hands into the opening in the back of her dress, Guzma guided the garment down Burnet’s lean sides and over her hips, watching as it slithered down her legs and pooled on the floor at her feet. Eyes raking up the length of her well-toned body as she stepped out of the pile of fabric, Guzma took a moment to appreciate the way her lingerie—a set of lacy panties and a strapless bra dyed in a rich lavender—stood out against her skin, a low noise of approval falling from his lips.

Catching a glimpse of that appreciative gaze when she looked back over one shoulder, Burnet smiled, bending down to gather the dress up in her arms and moving to drape it over one end of the massive stone altar. As she settled it among the offerings, a few of the exotic flowers fluttered to the floor, sending up hints of their pleasant aroma as she turned to face Guzma again. The Professor tilted her head slightly, a nymphlike smile curving her lips as she let her eyes roam his frame, the low lighting in the shrine doing nothing to conceal his obvious hard-on. With a playful, regal wave of her hand, Burnet nodded towards him, calling out smoothly, “your turn.”

The gangster’s eyes narrowed and he grinned, his relaxed posture radiating smugness as he slipped his hands out of his pockets and reached up to remove the dark glasses from his forehead. Pulling the gold medallion off over his head with his other hand, he walked over to the altar to deposit the items on top of Burnet’s dress. He could feel the Professor’s gaze on him as he shrugged out of his hooded shirt, letting the garment slide down his arms before catching it with one hand.

As Guzma slid out of the dark shirt, Burnet drew back a few steps to watch the display, enticed by the way the gang leader’s powerful muscles shifted beneath his white t-shirt as he tossed the hooded shirt onto the altar with the rest of their clothes. When he moved to take his t-shirt off as well, she interrupted him.

“Slowly,” she ordered, her serpentine eyes flickering a warm amber in the lantern light as she let her eyes roam over his body. “Go slower, now.”

Guzma raised a brow slightly, one corner of his lips pulling upwards into a sly grin as he met her eyes, his pride stoked considerably by the way she was looking at him. “You want a show, huh?” he mused, deeply pleased by the alluring smile she offered up in response to his teasing comment. Stepping back, he brought his hands to his waistband and crossed his arms at the wrist, taking hold of the hem of his t-shirt in both hands. Slowly peeling it upward to reveal his abs and chest, Guzma drew the garment up halfway before turning to one side so she could see his back and shoulders as he tugged the shirt up over his head.

Burnet gave a long, low purr of satisfaction in open appreciation of the display, deeply pleased to see the toned expanse of Guzma’s back in a situation that didn’t involve administering first aid. “Stay like that for a minute,” she called out again as he dropped his t-shirt on the pile of clothes, approaching him from behind and reaching out to smooth her palms over his upper back.

Guzma’s breath hitched as she splayed her fingers against his skin, his erect shaft twitching as she brushed her lips along the curve of his spine and rubbed her palms over the planes of his shoulder blades. Biting back a soft curse, he clenched his fists as he forced himself to stay still like she’d asked. 

Purring softly against the back of Guzma’s left shoulder, Burnet pressed her body firmly against him from behind. Sliding her arms around his upper body, she squeezed him tightly, shuddering with desire. “Your body is amazing,” she breathed, sweeping her hands over his chest and then bringing them down so she could trace the lines of his abs with the tips of her fingers. 

“Yeah, running from the cops will do that for ya,” he joked breathlessly, heat dancing over his nerve endings from the way that she was touching him. 

Burnet snorted at the comment, nuzzling the back of his shoulder before pulling away from him, gliding around him to stand between Guzma and the altar. For a moment, her eyes drifted lazily over the firm expanse of his torso, and she let out an appreciative hum, sliding her tongue over her lower lip.

Unable to help preening under that admiring gaze, the gang leader tilted his chin up slightly and rested a hand on one hip, grinning and arching one brow upward as he watched her devouring him with her eyes. As aroused as he was, he still couldn’t resist the urge to tease her a little when she was being so honest and unguarded like this. “You like what you see, Bright Eyes?” he purred.

“Yes,” she breathed immediately, meeting his gaze with rich amber eyes that were heavy-lidded with desire. 

Startled when his attempt to embarrass her backfired, Guzma blinked at her, swallowing hard as the hand on his hip slowly lowered to rest at his side. Shit…he was gonna be envisioning that expression during his jerk-off sessions for weeks… 

Drawing close to him, Burnet pressed her hips up against his, biting her lower lip as she felt the hard rise of his endowment pressing into her abdomen. Feeling his palms come to rest on her shoulders, Burnet tentatively slipped a hand between them, pressing the heel of her hand against the hard rise in his pants and slowly rubbing downwards. 

Guzma groaned in response to the firm pressure, his fingers digging into her shoulders as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against her forehead.

“Guzma…” she murmured his name, tracing the hard length of him through his clothing with a shiver of pleasure. Splaying her fingers, she rubbed her hand down his length and back up again, letting the fabric-clad girth slide between her index and ring fingers with each stroke.

Bringing his hands up to cup her face again, Guzma pulled her into another kiss, tilting his hips into the firm kneading at his crotch. Slipping one hand back to hold the nape of her neck as he stroked her tongue with his, he dropped the other hand down to grope at the soft rise of one breast, squeezing it through the lacy fabric of her bra.

Burnet suddenly broke the kiss with a hitching gasp, arching against Guzma’s body as he kneaded her clothed breast in his palm. A sharp whimper fell from her lips as he felt out the stiffening flesh of her nipple, pinching it lightly through the thin fabric. Mewling softly, she arched onto her toes and pressed her forehead against his, biting her lip as the hand kneading at his crotch faltered in its rhythm.

“Sensitive, huh?” Guzma purred, rolling the concealed bud between his thumb and the edge of his forefinger, relishing the way Burnet squeaked and nodded eagerly, trying to press into the contact. Hooking his fingers in the edge of the material, he tugged it down, cupping her bared breast in his palm and purring low in his throat as he squeezed it. 

“Ah!” Burnet yelped, her hands flying up to clutch at Guzma’s shoulders, knees suddenly feeling a little shaky as the feel of his warm palm against her bare breast sent another flood of heat through her body to pool between her legs. The first tug of his fingers on her bare nipple had her leaning into him for support, whimpering eagerly as electric jolts of pleasure danced through her chest. 

Intrigued by her responsiveness, the gang leader slid an arm around Burnet’s midsection to hold her steady as he tugged at the stiffening bud, smirking when each little tug and tweak drew a sharp mewl or a hitching whimper from her throat. Sliding his hand over to tug the other side of her bra down, Guzma gave the other breast similar attention, tugging her stiffening nipple between his thumb and forefinger and reveling in the way it made her squirm against him. “Jeez, you _are_ sensitive,” he murmured, dipping his head to kiss a trail down the side of her neck and over her collarbone.

Burnet’s head was swimming as Guzma slowly moved his mouth downwards, her breaths hitching faster and faster with anticipation as his lips drew closer to her breast. She moved her hands up from his shoulders, curling her fingers loosely into the pale strands of his hair, gasping deeply when his mouth closed over her left nipple and he drew on it strongly. “Ah!! Guzma, yes!! Hnn…”

Splaying his hands in the small of Burnet’s back, the gang leader sucked greedily at the sensitive bud, his own shaft swelling as the pale-haired Professor squealed in delight. He flicked the tip of his tongue over the turgid flesh, shuddering in pleasure when Burnet started panting rapidly, soft pleas for him to keep going falling from her lips. Pulling her hips hard against his, he switched sides, sucking her nipple into his mouth and gliding the warm ball of his tongue stud over it repeatedly.

Burnet arched onto her toes with a strangled cry, wrapping her arms around Guzma’s head to hold him down as the lashing of his pierced tongue against her sensitive nipple sent cascades of heat dancing through her abdomen. “Please,” she whimpered, feeling the hot, slick slide of the wetness building between her thighs as she lifted one leg and hooked it around one of Guzma’s, trying to press closer to him, impatient for something more. “Oh, Guzma, please, that feels so good…”

Purring against the warm flesh in his mouth, the gang leader kept one hand in the small of Burnet’s back, sliding his other hand down between their bodies. Kissing his way back up her chest to mouth at the side of her neck, Guzma slowly stroked the tips of his fingers over the fabric between her thighs, brows rising in evident surprise when he felt that the lacy fabric was already soaked through.

“Damn, Bright Eyes, did you seriously get this wet just from me playing with your tits?”

A soft, embarrassed mewl escaped Burnet’s throat, and she mumbled something that might have been a ‘shut up’ against the side of his neck. 

Guzma snickered in response, pressing his fingers against the area and basking in the way it made her gasp and quiver against him. She was so sensitive, it was just crazy…and that level of responsiveness was something he could definitely get off on. Feeling Burnet’s arms loop tightly around his neck, the gang leader nuzzled the patch of skin just beneath her earlobe, his heated breaths drifting over her skin. He dragged his fingernails over the damp lace, snickering when she keened and spread her thighs wider, shuddering against him. Slowly, he glided the palm of his other hand up the curve of her back, seeking out the back of her bra and slipping his middle finger in between the strap and her flesh. With a quick flick of his fingers, he undid the clasps, tugging the garment out from between their bodies and tossing it aside, pleased to feel the press of her bare breasts against his skin.

Kneading at the soft, bare flesh between Burnet’s shoulder blades, Guzma took her earlobe between his teeth and tugged it lightly, tracing the edges of the damp material that concealed her sex with the tips of his fingers. Then, teasingly, he probed the hot, wet folds through the thin material, grinning when she gasped deeply and arched onto her tip toes. 

Burnet shuddered when Guzma pushed the lavender-coloured material of her panties up between her folds, rubbing the lacy material against the sensitive flesh in a way that was utterly maddening. Her inner walls clenched as her field of vision swam, and she began to shift her weight impatiently from foot to foot as she tried to grind down into the contact. Her heart was pounding against the inside of her ribcage, and her damp nipples were still throbbing against Guzma’s bare chest as her whole body started to burn with need. Clutching tighter at the backs of the gangster’s shoulders, Burnet arched against him needily, panting against Guzma’s ear. “Guzma,” she whimpered in frustration, pausing to swallow and clear her throat because her mouth was already dry from panting so hard. “Guzma, please…”

Instantly attuned to the desperate note in her voice, Guzma suddenly realised that Burnet was already on the verge of coming apart. Letting her earlobe slide from between his teeth, he quickly moved his hand up, then slid it down the front of her panties. Pressing the heel of his hand against the apex of her sex, he began to move it in tight circles, smirking when Burnet keened in delight and started wriggling her hips eagerly. “That’s it,” he coaxed as she started panting rapidly against his ear, rubbing herself greedily against the heel of his hand, “c’mon…”

Whimpering with need, Burnet clutched tighter to Guzma’s neck, grinding her hips urgently into the firm pressure. Her breaths started hitching as the throbbing between her legs grew more insistent, and all of the muscles in her body began to tense as she hovered right at the peak before pushing past it with a strangled cry.

Guzma’s breath hitched when Burnet’s nails bit into his upper back, the pulse of hot fluid against his palm making him shudder as he forced himself to keep his hand pressed firmly where it was, letting her ride out her orgasm as she clung to him. 

Panting, Burnet uttered a shaky mewl, her sex throbbing against the heel of his hand. The intensity of her orgasm had completely overwhelmed her…Guzma had responded so quickly and selflessly to her need, as if by magic…and it felt so much better than anything she’d ever done in her bed alone. Shuddering, she pressed her face into the side of his neck, moaning his name softly.

Guzma’s own breaths were coming quicker now, his own body painfully aroused from listening to her come undone like that. “You sing real pretty when you come, Bright Eyes…” he breathed, a slow grin curving his lips as he slid his hand forward slightly.

Burnet mewled in pleasure as Guzma dragged his fingers slowly through the wet, throbbing folds of her sex, a startled yelp passing her lips when he suddenly plunged one of the scarred digits inside.

“…but I’m not done with you yet,” he growled, curving his wrist and sliding his middle finger into her as deep as it would go. 

The Professor yowled when he curved his finger back towards her navel, stroking the pad of it firmly against a spot inside of her that suddenly made her vision swim. In an instant, it was as if he’d brought her right back to the moments before she’d come apart, and suddenly, her whole body was zeroed in on what he was doing, hyper-aware of the strokes of his finger against her inner walls. “Oh!! Oh, Guzma!! More! Don’t stop!!”

“That’s right,” Guzma growled, his voice low against the shell of her ear as he wriggled the digit firmly inside of her. “Give up another one for your boy Guzma, hm?” His lips curved into a sly smirk as Burnet’s short, hitching breaths started to catch on keening cries of pleasure, and he drank in the rhythmic wriggles of her hips as he worked her up towards a second peak. “C’mon…”

Past the point of coherent speech now, Burnet could only vocalize in sharp, whimpering yelps, and she clawed at Guzma’s upper back as the deep, steady throbbing in her sex was worked back up into a rapid, skittering pulse. Lights sparked in her vision as she hovered right on the edge, a guttural noise of pleasure catching in her throat. “Guz…ma….a—a---ah!!” She twisted her hips against him, every muscle in her body tensing as another orgasm rocketed through her, and she gasped for breath as she bowed against him, so high on the rush of ecstasy that she felt like she was flying.

Guzma held the pad of his middle finger hard against her G-spot as she writhed in his grip, another small pulse of hot fluid slicking his palm as he ground his teeth. “That’s it,” he growled, his expression one of pure self-satisfaction as he held her tightly against his body, feeding off of her powerful shudders. However, his expression immediately shifted to one of intent focus when he felt her nails bite deeper into the backs of his shoulders, and he realised she was practically trying to climb him. Her breaths were still rapid, insistent, and she was still trying to twitch her hips on his hand. Brows rising, he turned his head slightly, his voice encouraging as he spoke into her ear. “You got another one for me?”

“Mmhm!!” She nodded frantically, breaths coming in ragged pants as she tried to move on him, whimpering urgently with the force of her need. “Guzma—” she keened, writhing on his hand as her thighs twitched. “Guzma, please—"

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” he soothed quickly, guiding her down towards the altar, shoving a pile of fruit aside with his forearm so he could lie her down on her back among the fragrant blossoms. Grabbing the waistband of her panties, he tugged them down her legs, tossing them aside and hooking his hands under her knees. “C’mon, pull your knees back for me,” he ordered firmly, glad when she immediately obeyed the order, too desperate to come to ask him any questions.

Bending down and shoving his palms under the small of Burnet’s back, Guzma slid his tongue from the core of her quivering sex right up to the apex, drawing on the stiff bud there as he pulled one hand back and moved it up to plunge a finger into her again. The Professor’s unrestrained squeal of delight sent a powerful shudder through him, the damp patch of fabric covering the tip of his shaft brushing against the side of the stone altar as he knelt to worship at the apex of Burnet’s sex. Roughly, he dragged the metal stud in his tongue over the sensitive pearl again and again, curving his finger upward and grinding the pad firmly against her G-spot. Tilting his head to one side as her keening wails started descending into ragged, animal groans, Guzma started sucking and tonguing at her clit, gratified when she suddenly curled upwards and fisted her hands in his hair, pulling his face hard against her sex with a breathless, stuttering cry. He continued working the sensitive bud with his tongue, shuddering when her body suddenly gave a single, powerful wrench, and hot, salty fluid pulsed into his mouth. A series of convulsive twitches racked the Professor’s body, her heels pressed firmly against his upper back as she held him down for a few seconds longer, her hot, panting breaths stirring the pale tresses on the top of his head. 

Swallowing her release, Guzma waited until her grip on his hair relaxed, then pulled back and licked his lips as Burnet collapsed onto her back. He remained where he was kneeling, his own breaths quick and uneven as he took in the sight of Burnet’s naked body, sprawled elegantly among the exotic flowers and other sacred offerings on the altar. He watched as she draped a forearm across her eyes with a ragged moan, each of her shaky, panting breaths ending on a low, trembling whimper of post-orgasmic delight. Her inhalations hitched every now and again as waves of her orgasm coursed through her body, and every rise and fall of her chest caused the warm glow of the lanterns to shimmer across the thin sheen of sweat on her lightly tanned skin. Slowly, Guzma’s eyes moved up to the four massive statues that were looking down on them, seemingly bearing witness to their erotic acts, and a sneer curved his lips. He was always turning his nose up at Alolan traditions and ceremonies…so having the chance to fuck Burnet’s brains out on an altar to the four Tapu _definitely_ appealed to his deviant side. It was like the ultimate ‘fuck you’ to everything those stuffy kahunas and their little lackey Captains held dear.

Rising to his feet, Guzma reached down to his waistband and guided his pants and boxers down to mid-thigh, freeing his long-neglected erection from its confines. Leaning forward, he braced his hands on the altar on either side of Burnet’s hips, calling to her softly. “Hey.”

Rewarded when she removed her forearm from where it was resting and revealed to him the most erotic set of bedroom eyes he’d ever seen, Guzma shivered and clenched his fists in the altar cloth. “Put your legs around me,” he instructed, his grey eyes intense as they focused on hers.

Burnet immediately obeyed, somehow finding the strength to maneuver up onto her elbows as she did so, lifting a hand up to stroke the side of Guzma’s face. “Yes,” she urged, even though everything between her legs was still pulsing like crazy from the pleasure he’d just given her. She didn’t care…she wanted him inside.

Leaning into her touch, Guzma braced himself on one hand, using the other to guide the head of his shaft into the hot, wet folds of her sex. Pressing forward with a few shallow thrusts, Guzma gave a low, guttural growl and clenched his teeth at the resistance that met his advance. “Shit, you’re tight as hell,” he hissed, dropping onto his forearms with a shudder. 

Curling her arms around his neck, Burnet reclined on the altar cloth, nuzzling his ear with a pleasure-drugged smile. “You sure you’re not just really big?” she purred playfully, pressing her heels against the small of his back and moaning softly when he pushed in a little deeper. 

A breathless laugh passed Guzma’s lips, and he tucked his face into the curve of her neck as he continued to press into her with shallow, insistent rocking motions. It was killing him to go this slow, but if he didn’t, he wasn’t gonna last very long. Her snatch was still quivering and clenching from her earlier orgasm, kneading his hard length in a primal, sensual rhythm.

“Guzma,” Burnet groaned, basking in the heat and strength of his body pressed hard against hers. “It feels so good…”

“Yeah,” he breathed, pressing forward a little more, shuddering as he pushed past the halfway point. His brow was furrowed deeply in concentration as he inched forward, his breaths slow and measured as he kept pushing inwards, sheathing himself in the tight heat of her body. It took a good minute or two before his hips were finally pressed flush against hers, and the moment they were, he exhaled in a rush, clenching his eyes closed as he licked the sweat from his upper lip. “Don’t move,” he rasped against Burnet’s ear, holding her tightly. “Just gimme a minute.”

“Mhm,” Burnet purred in acknowledgement, nodding against the side of his head. As another soft breeze drew a deep chorus of creaks from the rafters overhead, she closed her eyes, losing herself in the sensation of the powerful body pressed so intimately against hers. Guzma was hot, and solid, and strong…and the feel of his thick shaft spreading her inner walls apart, while it was bordering on painful, was deeply soothing. Turning her head slightly, she drew in the subtle scent of his sweat mingled with the scent of rain, and her fingers curled gently into the pale locks of his hair as she moaned out his name.

The sound of his name on Burnet’s lips made Guzma shudder, and he drew his hips back slowly, groaning in ecstasy as the tight grip of her inner walls pulled at his length like a fist. “Fuck,” he growled, thrusting back in again and shuddering. Everything in him wanted to start slamming into her at a breakneck pace, to work himself over the edge quickly because he was already so close to coming—but he wasn’t going to give in to that urge. First off, Burnet was a tight lay and he was really hot for her, so he was going to drag this out and enjoy it for as long as he possibly could. Second, as a guy who prided himself on his sexual performance, he refused to tap out so early in the game.

Lifting his head, Guzma nuzzled the edge of Burnet’s jaw, mouthing at the underside as he shifted his weight onto one forearm so he could smooth a hand down her side. Rewarded with an encouraging purr of pleasure, the gang leader kneaded at the Professor’s hip, moving up to claim her mouth as he continued to thrust into her in slow, even strokes.

Burnet moaned softly against Guzma’s lips, stroking his tongue with her own as she carded her hands through his hair. The smooth, gentle rhythm of his hips had come as a surprise. She’d expected his rough, feral nature to play out in their coupling from the start…but instinct told her that he was only biding his time, building towards something much less restrained than what he was giving her now. Breaking the kiss, she pressed her forehead against his, stroking the pads of her thumbs against his cheekbones as their shallow, uneven breaths mingled.

The gang leader closed his eyes, focusing on the warmth and softness of her hands against his face as he slowly regained his equilibrium. As he shifted up onto his hands so he could look down at her, he felt the faint sting of the scratchmarks she’d left on his upper back, and the sensation brought a pleased smirk to his lips.

Blinking up at Guzma when he pulled back and gazed down at her with his usual smug expression, Burnet quirked a brow. “What?”

“Nothing,” the thug mused, slowly drawing his hips back until his shaft slid free, amused by the soft noise of protest Burnet uttered in response to the move. “Turn over so you’re on your knees,” he grunted, making a circular motion with his index finger.

Sitting up, Burnet turned over, shifting onto her hands and knees on the altar and purring when Guzma slid his hands up her bare back, then down her sides to take a firm hold of her hips.

Now that he was able to take her from a standing position, Guzma lined himself up again, reaching down to hold his shaft steady with one hand as he pushed back inside. Even with the change in position, he could still feel the tight resistance on his length as he sheathed himself in her body again. Releasing the base of his erection as he pushed in the rest of the way, he slid both hands up the sides of Burnet’s body, then stroked them down the smooth expanse of her back. Working his way back up to a steady rhythm, Guzma kneaded at the Professor’s hips, sliding his tongue over his lower lip as he took in the soft chorus of her delighted moans. “You’re so tight I can hardly take it,” he growled, drawing back a little more than halfway and then thrusting back in again. 

Burnet gasped when the thick length slid home, her body arching as she clutched the altar cloth in her fists. A breathless laugh caught in her throat at his words, and she moaned as Guzma drew his hips back again. “You’d better take it, or I’ll tell your boys that ‘Big, Bad Guzma’ can’t deliver,” she panted. 

A wild grin curved the gangster’s lips, and he drew his hips back again, further this time, snapping them forward with a low growl. “What’d I tell you about those claws, kitten?” Drawing one hand back, he smacked Burnet sharply on the ass, snickering at her yelp of surprise but immediately regretting the move because it made her clamp down on his dick like a vise. Drawing out a little further, Guzma clenched his teeth and drove into her again, gripping her hips firmly with both hands now. “You’re gonna get Big, Bad Guzma,” he informed her, his voice low and predatory. “And you’re gonna be screaming that name before I’m through with you.”

The Professor shuddered and mewed softly in delight, nodding eagerly against the richly-scented flowers pressed into the altar cloth beneath her.

Boosted by Burnet’s wordless acquiescence, Guzma used his grip on her hips to haul her back into his driving thrusts, loving the way that her gasps of pleasure punctuated every rough slap of their flesh. Sweat started to bead on his skin as he set a harder pace, pleased when the pale-haired scholar spread her knees wider and started trying to shove back into his incoming thrusts.

“Harder,” Burnet panted, the glide of his thick shaft moving in and out of her body heating her up from the core. “Harder, Guzma, _please_ …” Fisting her hands in the altar cloth, she used her grip as leverage to drive herself back onto his length, moaning louder when he obliged her with a low, animal growl.

Baring his teeth, Guzma set a more punishing rhythm, hips slapping against hers as his fingers dug into her flesh. Panting heavily, he groped and kneaded at her ass, then leaned down and hooked his arms under her body, hauling her up onto her knees on the altar so he could grope her breasts while he fucked her.

Lips parting on an uninhibited wail of pleasure, Burnet arched into the rough attentions on her chest, eagerly yowling Guzma’s name.

Catching his breath, the gang leader brought a hand up and clapped it firmly over her mouth. “Shhh!!!!” he hissed, his hips immediately stilling. “Keep squealing like that and you’re gonna get us busted,” he growled into her ear, his husky tone edged with wry amusement. He gave a few more deep, probing thrusts, delighting in the way that Burnet’s entire body jerked against him with every movement, short exhalations from her nostrils puffing against the edge of his index finger. “Unless you like being watched…?” he teased.

Head swimming, Burnet whined meekly through her nose, shaking her head as emphatically as the firm grip on the lower half of her face would allow.

“Didn’t think so,” he chuckled, throwing his hips into her in long, languid strokes. “Nice, high-profile girl like you doesn’t want the world knowing how hard she gets off on being fucked by a scumbag,” he teased in a low, grating purr, surprised when the Professor shuddered against him and the grip of her walls around his thrusting shaft tightened momentarily. Sneering, he gave a few short thrusts, licking his lips as he spoke into her ear again. “Oh…so you like it when I talk dirty to you, huh?”

Clenching her eyes shut, Burnet tried to shake her head, drawing a sharp breath through her nose when Guzma twisted his hips on a particularly forceful instroke.

“Liar,” Guzma purred, starting to thrust into her in a smooth, steady rhythm. “Is that why you got all dolled up for me? Wanted to know what it’s like to get fucked by a gangster?” A feral gleam flickered in his eyes when Burnet’s inner walls clamped down on him and she tried to arch away, whining against his hand. “Shit,” he breathed, his blood heating further as he started snapping his hips into her in shallow, jarring thrusts. “I should’ve figured how bad you wanted it when you showed up in Po Town that night…” Another whimper. “D’you think about me when you’re touching yourself?”

Already dizzy with the pleasure that was surging through her entire body, Burnet moaned, the sound muffled by Guzma’s palm as she nodded, too drugged with pleasure to resist him any more.

That simple nod spiked Guzma’s lust, and he growled low in his throat, pulling her off of the altar completely so she was standing with her back moulded against the front of his body, keeping her steady with an arm wrapped around her midsection. Holding the back of Burnet’s head against one shoulder with the hand he’d clamped over her mouth, Guzma started driving into her slick warmth with renewed purpose. He was getting close, but he was far from finished with this sweet little number. Kicking her feet further apart, Guzma thrust his hips up into her in deep, scooping motions, snickering when Burnet started arching onto her toes and squealing behind his hand. “There, Bright Eyes? You like it there?” he teased, leering in perverse delight when she bleated out a frantic ‘mmhmm! mhmm!’ against his palm, practically dancing on her tiptoes as he fucked her. Growling deeply, Guzma kept up the same motion, putting a little more force into his thrusts and groaning raggedly when Burnet arched against him so hard that she almost dislodged the hand that was muffling her strangled wail of pleasure. He could feel her hot fluid trickling over his sacs, and for a moment, he actually stopped thrusting, holding himself deep within her body so he could bask in the way she was shaking against him.

Fuck…he’d _never_ thought sex with this little ivory tower goody-goody could ever be this hot. He was so close to the edge he was about to go insane with it, but he just couldn’t get enough of what she was giving him right now. It made him want to see how far he could push her…so when he resumed thrusting, his pace was slow, his hips moving in short, shallow plunges that allowed him to pull back from the edge one last time. “Did you come again, Bright Eyes?” he purred teasingly into her ear, his voice thick with amusement.

A short, weak nod against his palm, another trembling whimper. Growling deeply in enjoyment, Guzma grinned and started driving deep into her again, sliding his tongue stud along the shell of Burnet’s ear and relishing the way it made her keen into his hand. “Good…let’s see if we can get one more outta you before I’m through.”

She uttered another quavering whimper into his palm, trying to shake her head. There was no way…

“Yeah, you are,” he growled. “You’re gonna give another one up for your boy Guzma.” The feral grin curved his lips once again as he pulled Burnet back a little more so they were leaning back slightly, every one of his driving thrusts grazing her G-spot. She was arching and wriggling on his dick, her nails buried in his forearm as her rapid breaths started hitching, and then suddenly her entire body bowed into a rigid arch. Guzma kept his hand clamped tightly over her mouth as she let out a shrill noise that would’ve been a shriek of almost agonized ecstasy if he hadn’t kept it muffled, another pulse of hot fluid dribbling over his flesh as her inner walls clamped down on him like a vise. 

Past the point where he could stand it any longer, Guzma started driving into the rhythmic kneading of her inner walls with eager grunts and snarls, his panting breaths hot against the side of Burnet’s neck as he finally sought out his own pleasure. As her pumping walls milked him with every thrust, he felt his sacs start to tighten, his fingers digging harder into Burnet’s cheek as he kept his hand clamped over her mouth, his other arm still looped securely around her middle. Turning his head with a growled curse, he dug his teeth into the tender curve of Burnet’s neck as his orgasm hit, shuddering against her as his release draped out of him in thick waves. 

His heart was pounding in his ears, harsh breaths puffing through his nostrils as he kept his teeth buried in the Professor’s skin, hips jerking into her as he held her tightly. A powerful shudder rocked his frame as Burnet’s passage continued to clench and flutter around him, and slowly, Guzma relaxed his jaw, panting raggedly against the Professor’s damp flesh as he licked his lips. Shifting one knee forward and bracing it on the edge of the altar just as his legs were about to give out, he sank forward into the pile of offerings with Burnet pinned underneath him, his whole body thrumming with the force of his climax.

For several minutes, Guzma lay on top of her, panting harshly against the darkening bruise his teeth had left on her neck as he slowly regained his senses. When he finally found the words to speak, he wasn’t able to find very many. “Fuck,” he groaned, a powerful shudder rocking him from head to toe. “Fucking _damn_ …” 

Burnet shuddered and whimpered softly.

The scent of the flowers they’d crushed into the altar cloth rose around their bodies, and Guzma slowly turned his head to nuzzle against Burnet’s nape, preferring the sweet Surskit scent that lingered on her silken skin. As his panting breaths evened out, Guzma began to brush his lips back and forth against the curve of her shoulder, trying to raise himself onto his forearms and finding he didn’t quite have the strength to do so yet. The realisation made him smirk, and he parted his lips over Burnet’s nape, taking a moment to leave what would be a very noticeable hickey in the morning.

Again, Burnet shuddered, a meek noise of discomfort passing her lips.

After a few minutes, having softened completely inside of her, Guzma drew back, a shiver of pleasure running through his body as he slid free of her soft heat. Managing to lift himself up a little, Guzma turned onto his side, then lolled onto his back so he could pull his pants and boxers back up. Lying on his back for a few seconds, he smirked unrepentantly at the four statues of the Tapu that appeared to be glaring down at them both. Turning his head to look at Burnet’s face, he frowned when he noticed a tear streaking down the Professor’s cheek. “Hey,” he called softly, turning back onto his side and reaching out to brush his knuckles against the side of her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Hn…” she mewed, shuffling around on the altar cloth so that she was on her side, facing him, curling against his chest and looping an arm around his body.

 _Shit,_ Guzma thought absently, moving to sit up and quirking a brow when she made an urgent noise of protest and tightened her grip on him. Relenting, he gathered Burnet against his chest, holding her close and nuzzling the top of her head, wondering what was going on. After a couple of minutes, he used one arm to lift them both into a sitting position on the altar, maneuvering the pale-haired Professor onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin. She seemed content with this arrangement, although she continued to sniffle occasionally as he caressed her upper back.

When a good ten minutes had passed and Burnet seemed to have quieted, Guzma gave her a gentle shake. “Oi. You still awake?” he prodded.

“Hmmmmm,” she purred, smiling lazily and nuzzling his chest.

Snorting in amusement, Guzma tilted his head down and guided her back a little so he could look at her tear-streaked face. Tipping her chin back with the edge of his index finger, Guzma quirked a brow. “You okay?”

Slowly, her pleasure-drugged serpentine eyes blinked open, and she peered up at him dazedly. After a moment, a drowsy, dopey smile curved her lips. “Guzma,” she purred.

The gang leader snorted again, shaking his head at the incoherent response. “Jeez, did I seriously fuck your brains out that hard?” he laughed, thoroughly entertained when she giggled as well. 

“Hmmmmm, Guzma,” she purred again, rubbing her cheek against his chest.

“Yep, the Professor’s officially checked out,” he muttered with a smirk, shuffling over with his cargo so that he could sit down on the floor with Burnet in his lap. Leaning back against the front of the altar, he resigned himself to a lengthy stay while the attractive scholar collected herself. Cuddling her close, he nuzzled his face into her hair, pleased with his performance, and with the fact that he’d been able to turn her into an incoherent, giggling mess. 

After another several minutes had passed, Guzma slowly maneuvered them both down onto their sides on the floor, pulling her snug against the front of his body and tangling their legs together. Nuzzling the top of her head, he stroked her bare back with firm, gentle sweeps of his palm, breathing in the scent of her hair. Moving his hand up, he traced the shell of her ear with the pads of his fingers, then stroked them over the curve of her shoulder, smiling at the way the goose flesh rose on her skin in response to his gentle touch. Resting his chin on one hand, Guzma watched her intently, tracing the curve of one of her hips with the pads of his fingers.

“Is Professor Burnet home yet, or am I still getting her answering service?”

The pale-haired woman laughed, drowsily blinking her eyes open and smiling up at him. “I’m here,” she replied.

“Good,” he grunted, bringing his hand back up to caress the edge of her jaw. “What was up with the waterworks?”

“Hm? Oh…that…” She laughed softly, leaning her cheek into his touch. “Overwhelmed. My whole body was just…I couldn’t even process, that’s how intense it was.” A shiver of pleasure coursed through her body at the memory, and she hummed softly. “I didn’t even know it could _be_ like that.”

The gang leader smirked, basking in the firm stroke to his ego. “Had a bad run in the bedroom before me, huh?” he joked.

Snorting, she shook her head and smirked at him. “You’re hilarious.”

Guzma blinked at her. “What?”

“You. You’re hilarious,” Burnet laughed, shaking her head. “Honestly…” She yawned, stretching a little against him. “…I had my first PhD by the time I was 22, and the second by the time I was 26. Exactly _when_ do you think I would’ve had time for a boyfriend?”

The thug’s brows furrowed as he contemplated her words, wondering what the hell that had to do with anything. Then, suddenly, it clicked.

“Wait—are you fuckin’ saying that was your first time?!” he cried, bolting upright and glaring down at her. 

Gazing back at him with an amused expression, she nodded.

“Damn it, why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” Guzma cried, scowling when Burnet burst out laughing. “It isn’t funny! If you’d told me, I would’ve—”

“Would’ve _what_ , Guzma?” she cut him off, her pale yellow-green eyes flashing in the lantern light as she gazed up at him from where she had stretched out, naked, on her back. Her smile had a touch of Guzma’s own wildness to it, and that feral quality came out in her voice, as well. “You would’ve taken it easy on me?”

Startled by the look in her eyes, Guzma blinked down at her, making a soft, frustrated noise in his throat. “Well…yeah.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, that wild grin curving wider. “That’s exactly why I _didn’t_ tell you.” Stretching her arms over her head, Burnet arched her back and then melted back against the wooden floor with a low purr of pleasure. “With no guarantee that we’d ever get together for a second round, did you honestly think I would’ve done anything that’d make you give me less than 100%?”

Guzma stared down at her blankly as the words sank in, then huffed softly, reaching up to rake a hand through his hair. “Shit, you really _are_ a fireball,” he muttered.

Sitting up slowly, Burnet pressed a playful kiss against his shoulder, then drew back to look him in the eyes. “And you, my dear Guzma, are a scumbag.” She grinned, reaching up to caress the side of his face. “Although I think I’m starting to like that about you.”

Snorting, the gang leader shook his head, a grudging smile curving his lips as he leaned in and kissed her softly.

Purring, Burnet stroked her tongue against his, continuing to lean on one hand as she caressed his face with the other. When their lips parted, she offered up an alluring smile, her eyes honey-coloured in the flickering light of the electric lanterns. “Now, tell me honestly…what did you think of the dress?”

Chuckling, Guzma leaned his cheek into Burnet’s hand, rubbing against it like a contented housecat. “It’s pretty damn cool,” he confessed. “Looks really good on you.”

Pleased, Burnet leaned in and kissed him again, then drew back and sighed in contentment. “Good.” Pulling away, she rose onto her knees, then carefully got to her feet, laughing when she realised that her legs were still trembling. “Ah…all that recovery time and I can still hardly walk straight,” she muttered, wobbling over to the altar and picking up her bra from where Guzma had discarded it.

Rising to his feet as well, the gang leader smirked unrepentantly, coming up behind her and helping her to do up her bra, nuzzling the bruise on the side of her neck. 

Touched by the simple gesture, Burnet turned her head to rub her cheek against his temple, reaching up to stroke the side of his face as he did up her bra. “Thank you.”

“Mm,” he grunted, pulling away and then picking up his white t-shirt from the altar, pulling it on over his head and smirking when the deep scratches on his upper back and shoulders protested the movement. Slipping into the hooded shirt as well, he grabbed his gold skull medallion and put it on, then grabbed his glasses and settled them back into place on his forehead. Seeing that Burnet had slipped back into the dress, he came up behind her again, zipping up the bodice for her.

Picking up her shawl and draping it around her shoulders, Burnet fastened it, then began to look around again, her expression growing more and more puzzled as she searched for her last article of clothing. Making a confused noise, she eventually straightened, looking over at her companion. When she saw the way that Guzma was just standing there smirking at her, she snorted. “Oh, for the—did you seriously steal my panties?”

One of the hands he’d concealed in his pockets shifted slightly, and his smirk widened into a grin. “Maybe.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, Burnet huffed softly. “Well…do I at least get something in return?”

Startled by her request (as he’d expected her to demand that he give the panties back), Guzma tilted his head slightly. “You want something of mine?”

She nodded. Now that their time together was drawing to a close, Burnet had a sudden, uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach…like she might never see him again. And as much as she was trying to dismiss it, that thought was pressing insistently at the back of her mind like an intruder trying to force entry. “Yeah,” she grunted. “Fair’s fair, right?”

Straightening, Guzma considered the request, then shrugged, sliding the black hooded shirt off of his shoulders and then holding it out to her. “Here.”

Burnet’s eyes widened. She’d expected him to give her something a lot less significant than that, if anything at all. “Really?” she murmured.

He nodded. “I’ve got a few…y’know, since Lusamine’s psycho ‘babies’ kept wrecking the damn things.”

Reaching out, Burnet took it from him, immediately drawing it to her nose and cuddling it, breathing in the scent of rain—of Guzma—from the collar, and sighing softly.

Touched by the display, the gang leader smiled in spite of himself, slipping his hands back into his pockets. “Don’t wear it out in public until the Psycho Queen is dead or locked up, okay?” he ventured.

“Please,” Burnet snorted, glaring at him over the dark fabric. “If anything, I’ll be wearing it to bed.”

Instantly picturing Burnet in nothing but the damn shirt, Guzma tensed, flushing and averting his gaze as he cursed softly. “Damn it, Bright Eyes, you really know what to say to get a guy worked up…” he breathed, pulling one hand out of his pocket and reaching up to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck. “Keep feeding _that_ mental image and I’m gonna lay you out for another round.”

Burnet laughed, draping the garment over one arm and rearranging the shawl around her shoulders to conceal her cargo. “Guzma, if you took me on that ride again, I think you’d have to carry me back to my boat when you were done with me.”

Rewarded with yet another stroke to his ego, Guzma snickered, shrugging a shoulder. “You sayin’ it wouldn’t be worth it?”

Walking over to him, Burnet leaned forward and pressed a kiss against his chest. “I know it would be…but you have a gang to run, and I have to work tomorrow,” she purred, lifting her head and looking up at him. “But thank you for the offer.”

“Any time,” he joked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and guiding her towards the door of the shrine, picking up his sneakers on the way.

They walked back through the garden in contented silence, Burnet’s arm looped around Guzma’s waist as she stayed pressed against his side. The moon was already setting, and the chorus of insects singing their night songs had died down slightly, as if some of them knew the couple’s secret and were staying quiet to keep confidence.

When they reached the front gate of Malie Garden, Burnet moved to pull away from her handsome companion; then, she hesitated. “You know…” she murmured, “I’ve heard that one of the towns on Ula’Ula is run by a gang.” Biting her lip as though she were nervous, she nuzzled close against Guzma’s side and smiled up at him innocently. “Maybe you should walk me to my boat, just to be safe?”

The gang leader snorted and rolled his eyes, giving her a squeeze with the arm that was still resting around her shoulders. “It’s a good thing all you wanted was the sex, because I don’t think I could handle you full-time if you’re clingy like this.”

Burnet laughed, rubbing her cheek against the side of his chest as they continued walking. “I’m actually not, to be honest,” she confessed, giving Guzma a squeeze with the arm that she still had looped around his waist. “I’ve always been extremely independent…I think if I ever had a full-time lover, they’d probably have to be that way, as well.”

“Sounds like you’re after another scientist, then,” Guzma offered as they passed the Pokémon Centre.

“Perhaps…” she mused.

They were both quiet as they walked towards the docks, and when Burnet’s grip on his waist suddenly tightened again, Guzma quirked a brow. “You all right?”

“You want the truth?”

He smirked. “You’re way too serious for me, too. I like girls with a sense of humour.”

Snorting, she smacked him lightly in the gut. “Jerk.”

As they approached the steps that led down to the dock, Burnet slowed to a stop, and Guzma quirked a brow as he looked down at her. “Well?”

Turning to press against him fully, the Professor looped both arms around Guzma’s waist and hugged him tightly, holding the shirt that he’d just given her in one fist. “I’m just worried that this isn’t going to end well…that something terrible is going to happen, and this’ll be the last time I see you,” she murmured.

Touched by the words, Guzma hugged her back, nuzzling the top of her head. “Yeah, well, Lusamine says I’m about as easy to get rid of as a cockroach, so I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

Drawing back, Burnet looked up at him seriously. “Thank you…for opening my eyes to what was going on at Aether,” she murmured.

His smile faded, but he gave a short nod.

“And for the sex. That was amazing.”

He snorted in amusement, shaking his head. “Don’t need to thank me for that.”

Looking at him with those shining serpentine eyes, she smiled that endearing, innocent smile of hers, and Guzma couldn’t resist leaning in for a brief kiss. When their lips parted, he pressed a kiss against her forehead, and then pulled away. “I gotta go back to Po Town and run my gang. Plum can only keep those scruffs in line for so long,” he joked.

“Guzma…”

He turned, looking back at her where she was standing at the top of the steps. The earnest look in her eyes was almost enough to call him back to her side, but he forced himself to stay put. One of them had to make sure this didn’t get any harder…but he couldn’t help thinking that this must be how a soldier’s girl looked at him before he went off to fight somewhere crazy.

“Please be careful,” she said softly, remaining where she was, as well. “The Ultra Wormhole Project is at a stage where Lusamine doesn’t need me around to operate the machine any more. If Cosmog falls into her hands again…” she trailed off, knowing that they both knew what would happen.

Guzma nodded, his own expression growing equally serious. “You be careful, too, Bright Eyes,” he urged. “You’re a lot deeper in that mess than I am.”

Her expression grew more resolute, and she nodded. “I know. I’ll be careful.”

“Good.” Turning, he raised a hand in an idle wave of farewell as he walked away, heading back towards Malie Garden.

Standing there as a cool breeze swept in off the surface of the ocean, Burnet shivered as it danced up her legs and cooled the moisture that was still clinging to her inner thighs. Turning and descending the stairs, she bent down to untie the dock line that secured her boat, casting the rope onto the deck. Climbing aboard, she shed the violet shawl she was wearing and slipped into Guzma’s shirt, starting the engine and guiding the craft back towards Akala.


End file.
